Sanitary toothpick-dispenser.



H. W. C. PROMMEL. SANITARY TOOTHPICK DISPENSER. APPLICATION FILED MAY 8,1914.

Patented July 13, 1915.

19i bl Lengc 3 C714 0c M I'cvc W aproryzye/ C1 Nor/1w L M FFIQE HAROLDW. C. PROMMEL, OF DENVER, COLORADO.

SANITARY TOOTHPICK-DISPENSER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 13, 1915.

Application filed May 8, 1914. Serial No. 837,197.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HAROLD W. C. PROM- MEL, citizen of the UnitedStates, residing in the city and county of Denver and State of Colorado,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in SanitaryToothpick-Dispensers; and I do declare the following to be a full,clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings,

and to the characters of reference marked thereon, which form a part ofthls specification.

My invention relates to improvements in sanitary tooth pick dispensers,my; object being to provide a device of this character which shallpossess both sanitary and economical features.

In my improvement, the tooth picks are concealed at all times exceptwhen removed for use by the operator of the-device, and the latter is soconstructed that a predetermined number only may be removed at eachoperation.

By virtue of my improved construction, itbecomes impossible for theperson who supplies himself with tooth picks to touch any of the picksexcept those which are re moved by the operation of the machine, andwhich are intended for him individually.

Heretofore, as is well known, it is customary in restaurants, hotels andin public eating houses generally, to have a quantity of tooth picksexposed in an open receptacle so that it is impossible for the personsupplying himself with one or more picks, to avoid touching others whichstill remain in the receptacle. It is evident that under this practice,it is impossible that the tooth picks shall be perfectly clean and freefrom germs. Furthermore, where tooth picks are kept in an exposedreceptacle, they become soiled by reason of the' settling of dustthereon, as upon all other articles. Heretofore, so far as I am aware,no provision has been made to overcome this difficulty or to provide asanitary device of the character stated. Hence, my object is to overcomethis difficulty, and to this end the construction consists of a bodymember in which is mounted a rotary device containing a recess adaptedto hold a limited number of tooth picks,the said recess normallyregistering with an opening in the bottom of the receptacle in which aquantity of tooth picks is located. This rotary member is journaled inthe body of the article and one of its journals extends outwardly, andto it is attached a forwardly projecting crank arm, which, when presseddownwardly, actuates the rotary member to remove a number of picks whichare caused to move downwardly, where they'are caught and may be removedby the'operator of the device. The rotary member is spring retained inits normal posltion, and consequently, as soon as the pressure on thecrank arm ceases, it will be automatically returned to its originalposition. The container member of the device consists of an inverted boxcomposed of glass and normally securely held. in place in such a mannerthat it is impossible for dust, dirt or foreign matter of any kind toreach the tooth picks within the container. This container member isreadily removable and replaceable for the purpose of supplying thedevice with tooth picks whenever it may be necessary to do so.

Having briefly outlined my improved construction, I will proceed todescribe the same in detail, reference being made to the accompanyingdrawing, in which is illustrated an embodiment thereof.

In this drawing,-Figure 1 is a vertical section taken through myimproved sanitary tooth pick dispenser on the line 1-1, Fig. 3, thedevice being shown in its normal position. Fig. 2 is a similar section,showing the movable parts of the device in the position they occupyafter the rotary member has been actuated to discharge a number of toothpicks and before the rotary member and the parts connected therewithhave been returned to their normal position. Fig. 3 is a horizontalsection taken on the line 3-3, Fig. 1, looking downwardly. Fig. 4 is adetail elevation of the rotary member of the device, shown onapproximately the same scale as in the other views; this is a Viewlooking in the direction of arrow 4, Fig. 2.

The same reference characters indicate the same parts in all the views.

Let the numeral 5 designate a body member which may be composed of ablock of wood, whose upper portion has surfaces 6 and 7 downwardlyinclined from their opposite sides, forming a sort of hopper shapedrecess. These surfaces facilitate the downward movement of the toothpicks 8 toward the opening 9 in the block, the said opening beinglocated between the lower edges of the parts of the block having theinclined surfaces 6 and 7. The portion of the body 5 of the device wherethe opening is located, is shaped to fit the segment of an approximatelycylindrical rotary member 10 which is journaled in the opposite sides ofthe device, just below the body member 5. One of the journals which Iwill designate by the numeral 12, is exposed at one side of the deviceand to it is made fast a crank arm 13 which extends forwardly, itsforward extremity being equipped with a disk shaped finger piece 14 tofacilitate the operation of the rotary member by downward pressure onthe crank arm. This rotary member is provided with a recess 15 which,when in its normal position (see Fig. 1), registers with the opening 9in the bottom of the body member, and is of such size as to receive alimited number of toothpicks. As shown in the drawing, this recess is ofsuch size as to hold but twb tooth picks of the character illustrated inthe drawing.

For convenience of illustration, I have shown picks of the characterwhich are cylindrical, or approximately cylindrical in shape betweentheir pointed portions, which are relatively long. This character ofpick is well adapted for use with a device of this class, as they moveeasily within the receptacle and readily adjust themselves fordispensing purposes. Furthermore, these picks are substantial, and muchmore desirable for use than any other character of wood pick with whichI am familiar.

Arranged in front of the rotary member 10 and adapted to receive thetooth picks dispensed by the rotary member as soon as the recess 15 hasmoved'into such position as to discharge the picks, are two downwardlyinclined members 16, which are attached to the opposite sides of thestructure below the body member 5. As illustrated in the drawing, eachof these members 16 consists of a flat piece of metal having adownwardly bent lip 17 atits upper extremity which is secured to theopposite sides of the structure by means of fastening devices, as rivets18. These two members 16 are so spaced .-;s to receive and support thetooth picks when discharged by the rotary member, the pointedextremities of the picks only engaging the said arms, which are turnedupwardly at their outer and lower extremities, as shown at 19, to retainthe picks in place until removed.

In order that the rotary member 10 shall be normally maintained in theposition shown in Fig. 1, and shall be automatically returned to itsnormal position after the tooth pick dispensing act, I provide two coilsprings 20, whose upper extremities are connected with the rotary memberas shown at 21, while their lower extremities are connected with thebottom of the device, as shown at 22. These springs are so arranged thatwhen the rotary member is in its normal position, the springs are undersufiicient tension to maintain the said member securely in suchposition. They are also so arranged that as the rotary member is turnedin the direction indicated by the arrows in Figs. 1 and 2 for thepurpose of removing tooth picks from the receptacle, the springs will beplaced under further tension, as they will be stretched or distended(see Fig. 2). Hence, as soon as the pressure on the lever arm 13 ceasesto act, the recoil of the springs will return the rotary member to itsnormal position. As illustrated inthe drawing (see Fig. 4), the lowerportion of the rotary member is recessed at its opposite ends as shownat 34, and small nails 35 are driven into the member, leaving their headportions exposed within the said recesses for convenience in connectingthe upper extremities of the springs 20. It is evident, however, thatthese springs may be connected in any suitable manner; it is alsoevident that the particular spring construction for retaining the rotarymember in its normal position may be varied at will, without departingvfrom the spirit of the invention.

To the body 5 of the device is secured a downwardly extending casingmember 23, which as illustrated in the drawing, is composed of sheetmetal, whose upper portion is secured to the body member by means offastening devices 24. The upper portion of this member 23 extendsslightly above the upper surface of the member 5 as shown at 25, and isprovided on the front and two opposite sides of the device with aninwardly extending horizontally disposed flange 26 adapted to receiveexteriorly projecting flanges 27 formed on the lower front and sideedges of the transparent container member 28, which consists of aninverted box or 11 cup which is applied to the casing member 23 of thestructure by first inserting its side flanges beneath the correspondingside flanges 26 of the casing member and moving the container memberforwardly until the 1 front flange enters the groove or recess formed bythe corresponding front flange 26 of the body member. When the containermember is in this position, the spring retaining devices 20 which arepivotally connected with the body of the device as shown at 30, aremoved upwardly into engagement with the rear surface of the container,these retaining devices being composed of leaf springs and being undersuflicient tension to 12% maintain the container securely in place. Itwill be understood that during the insertion of the container member asheretofore .explained, the retaining devices 29 will be in the positionindicated by dotted lines in Fig.

i chamber is closed at the bottom, rear and atboth sides, but is open infront as shown at 32, thus giving access to the operating parts'of thedevice and also allowing the tooth picks to move freely into position atthe outer extremities of the arm 16.

In order to supportthe device in a stable position, the bottom of thecasing member 23 may be equipped with legs or supporting brackets, 33.

From the foregoing description, the use and operation of my improvementwill be readily understood. In order to obtain tooth picks as they areneeded, it is only necessary to press downwardly on the outer extremityof the lever arm 13, by which a partial rotary movement will be impartedto the rotary member 10, said movement being of sufiicient magnitude tomove the recess 15 to a position just below the bottom of the bodymember 5, whereby the tooth picks therein are allowed to roll out of therecess and downwardly. upon the arms 16 and into the positionillustrated in the drawing, from'which they may be removed. As

soon as the pressure on the lever arm ceases to act, the recoil of thesprings 20 returns the rotary member to its normal position, ready foranother tooth pick dispensing operation.

In order to supply the device with a quantity of tooth picks whenever itbecomes necessary, the spring retainers 29 are first moved downwardly tothe position shown in Fig. 3, after which the transparent containermember 28 is removed, and a quantity of tooth picks placed therein,after which the container is returned to its normal position. It shouldbe explained, however, that during the return of the container to itsposition in connection with the body of the device, the body membershould be inverted and the container applied when in a correspondingposition, in order to maintain the tooth picks in place during theattachment of the container.

Attention is called to the fact that the specific construction of themembers 5 and 23 is not essential, and may be varied within the scope ofthe appended claims. For instance, the members 5 and 23 instead of beingseparate as described, may be cast as an integral device, which may bethe preferred form of construction.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is,

l. A dispenser of the class described comprising a relatively stationarybody memher, a spring retained movable ejector, a casing connected withthe body member and extending below the same, a container extendingabove the body member, the casing having side inward y turned flangesforming grooves, and the container having side flanges adapted to engagesaid grooves, and retaining means applied to the body member and adaptedto engage the container member in the rear, substantially as described.

2. A dispenser of the class described comprising a relatively stationarybody member, a spring-retained movable ejector, a casing connected withthe body member and extending below the same, a container extendingabove the body member, the upper eX- tremity of the casing havinggrooves formed therein, and the container having parts adapted to engagesaid grooves, and retaining means applied to the body member and adaptedto engage the container member in the rear, substantially as described.

3. A dispenser of the class described, comprising a relativelystationary body memher having a bottom opening, an ejector having arecess communicating with the open-- ing in the body member, a casingconnected with the body member and extending below the same, a containerextending above the body member, the upper extremity of the casinghaving grooves formed therein, the container having parts adapted toengage said grooves, whereby the said container is slidably removable.

In testimony whereof I aifix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

HARQLD W. C. 'PROMMEL.

Witnesses:

MAZE KIRLY, A. EBERT OBRIEN.

